World Rowing Championships 2011

World Rowing Championships is the most important event for the rowers and rowing fans – and even so much more this year, since the 2011 World Rowing Championships will also be a qualifying tournament for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

The first regatta on Lake Bled took place as early as 1905. Today, Bled Rowing Club is one of the most successful sport clubs of the nation. Even the first Olympic medal for the newly independent nation Slovenia was won by the rowers of Bled in 1992. Bled has already hosted three World Rowing Championships, two Masters’ Championships, the World Junior Championships, and the European Championships, along with numerous national championships and of international regattas.

In anticipation of the World Rowing Championships, the margin of Lake Bled in Mala Zaka and Velika Zaka was given a new image. It included a landscape layout of the shore and the architectural design of the rowing facilities. The boathouse and the stands, as well as the jury tower in Velika Zaka were renovated. Now the shore of Lake Bled and its surroundings are ready to host the biggest rowing competition in the history of Slovenia.

Best Slovenian rowers Iztok Čop and Luka Špik − Olympic Champions from Sydney, silver medalists from Olympic Games in Athens and three times World Champions in double sculls − will be rowing together at the World Championships at Bled this year and will be going for gold.